The Use of Functional Confections in Promoting Oral Health

In areas of the world where populations are undernourished poor oral health is prevalent. Diets rich in fruit and vegetables are thought to have many health benefits including reducing the risk of oral cancer or gum disease. In particular fruits such as strawberries contain many different compounds which may be responsible for these proposed health benefits. From this study, the researchers hope to gain information about how the tissues in the mouth absorb strawberry gummies in a population of habitually smoking and never smoking men and women. The researchers will measure inflammation hormones in your saliva and urine and the genes in your mouth and blood. Two different strawberry gummies will be tested in this study. The strawberry gummies were developed at OSU in the Department of Food Science and Technology. One type of strawberry gummy will contain freeze-dried whole strawberries while the other type will have no fruit. In total the eight pieces of strawberry gummies that you will consume in one day will be at most equal to 1 cup of whole strawberries. The research team believes the two strawberry gummies may be digested and absorbed differently and that components in the strawberry gummies may be helpful for oral health.